The Zen Diet Revolution by Martin Faulks Read Free Book Online

visualizing eating a large amount of the food beforehand.
    It does show that by being aware of what you are eatingand by using visualization techniques to enhance that awareness, that the mind is a powerful ally in your goal to eat less and more healthily.
Auto-suggestion for Zen Dieting
    One particular way of using your mind to aid your change in habits is to use auto-suggestion, a powerful system whereby you use a word or phrase in repetition. Autosuggestion is totally different from affirmations (which use an ambiguous phrase such as ‘I love myself’), as a perfectly chosen word or mantra is used: one that is directly linked to either what you want to achieve or to help shift a deep-seated problem or habit. It could be seen as a form of self-hypnosis because the changes occur on a deep subconscious level; not only is the mind calmed by the repetitive nature of the practice, but you are instructing your unconscious mind to do something directly. This, combined with the repetition, causes a change in your thinking and possibly in your neural pathways.
    The word or phrase you choose is repeated anywhere up to 500 times in a sitting, and is often aided by using a string of beads to help count the repetitions. This technique is not new and has been used for thousands of years as mantras or in the form of prayers. The use of beads is also familiar to many: the mala or prayer beads used by Buddhists, Muslims and Hindus and of course the rosary favoured by Roman Catholics.
    You will need a set of mala beads or a rosary, or make a string of 54–108 beads of your choice. Choose your mantra to help aid your Zen Diet. Think carefully about what exactly it is you want to achieve.
EXERCISE
    Sit in a quiet place where you can comfortably do several ‘rounds’ of your beads.
    Say your mantra in your head or silently while moving your lips.
    Each time you say your word or phrase, move your fingers along the beads one by one.
     
    You can do as many rounds as you like, but try to do no less than 100. A set of 500 may take you 20 minutes, but by this time your brain will be taking it firmly onboard and you may well have also elicited what is called the ‘relaxation response’, which we will discuss shortly. When you become used to doing your beads, you can use them anywhere – on the train, waiting for the bus or during your tea break at work.
    How long will it take to notice an effect? After a week or so of doing your beads twice a day, with up to 500 repetitions, you may well begin to notice a change. For some this change comes quicker than for others, but there
will
be change. The more you do it, the better, stronger and longer-lasting the change will be; you may need to keep upyour ‘reps’ for months, but you can be sure that what you are doing is creating a new mental pathway with a positive new change, one that you can keep coming back to if ever you need to top up the habit.
    You can do more than one word, phrase or mantra at a time, but it is not as effective.
    Bear in mind the fact that the unconscious mind does not acknowledge ‘negatives’; for instance, repeating ‘I will NOT eat cake’ will translate as ‘I WILL eat cake!’, and you would need to phrase it slightly differently such as ‘I will eat healthily every day’.
    Examples of words or phrases/mantras to use; you will need to tailor-make your own personal mantra, but a few simple ones are:
    CALM – incredibly simple, but when you are totally stressed out, it can be the one word you really need and, said repeatedly, can have a potent effect.
    I AM COMPLETELY HEALTHY IN MIND, BODY AND SPIRIT – a really good ‘blanket’ term and one that is reassuring and empowering; again, repetition is the key. Saying it once or twice is pointless; you really have to convince your subconscious, and thus your entire being, that it is indeed completely healthy.
    MY BODY FAT DECREASES EVERY DAY – this is a succinct and to-the-point suggestion. Obviously, you useit